Your Support Helps Give Life to History at Cliveden

Dear Friends,

Cliveden will come alive in 2018 with jazz, food explorations, exhibits and programs that interpret new research into the Cliveden Food Chain. This exciting initiative will focus on life at Cliveden and the Chew family’s Mid-Atlantic plantations through the experience of food and music, upstairs and downstairs.

The elite Chew family was served by a multicultural array of free and indentured servants and enslaved Africans. What can their stories teach us about economic status, material culture, gender roles, labor practices and the cultural traditions surrounding food practices in colonial Philadelphia? Please plan to join us at creative new programs in 2018 to learn about all the people who lived and worked here!

Our new findings build upon what we know about Cliveden’s 1767 Kitchen Dependency. Recent archaeology in the Dependency uncovered a bake oven in the hearth wall—one of many new discoveries that raises more questions about this intimate service space and the role of food and status at Cliveden.

Discovery happens daily at Cliveden! With support from generous donors, we preserve, restore and interpret many layers of history. The Kitchen Dependency is just one example of the way you help us bring life to history. That is why we hope you will consider a year-end gift to help us continue to find, tell and share the rare and detailed stories of the people of Cliveden and their relevance to American history and our lives today.

Your tax-deductible contribution by December 31st will help Cliveden:

Educate more than 2,500 Philadelphia students with curriculum-based lessons about race and identity, local history, and the Battle of Germantown,

Perform Liberty to Go to See, an award-winning and emotional dramatic experience based on the Chew family’s historic papers,

Present thrilling reenactments of the Battle of Germantown during the annual Revolutionary Germantown Festival,

Stabilize the Kitchen Dependency and preserve physical structures at Cliveden,

Engage the community in thought-provoking Cliveden Conversations that promote multicultural understanding.

Cliveden is a place where people can know history, feel its power, and share it with others. Will you join us and pledge your support for Cliveden? Every gift makes a tangible difference.

Please donate below, or mail your check payable to Cliveden in the enclosed envelope. Now you can also Text-to-Give! Text 41444, then enter 1777 and your donation amount.

Thank you in advance for your generosity. Best wishes for a joyful holiday season of giving!

Sincerely,

David Young,

Executive Director, Cliveden of the National Trust

P.S. In appreciation of your gift made before year-end, you will receive free admission to one Cliveden Food Chain program in 2018—watch for more information after the New Year.

Cliveden’s mission is to help people understand our shared history and motivate them to preserve it by providing access to the rich continuity of history and preservation in one community and family over time, and by offering direction and knowledge about preserving our built heritage and its value. We fulfill this mission by:

Preserving our houses, grounds, and collections;

Interpreting Cliveden meaningfully to the public based on solid research;

Working with local businesses and community revitalization and historical organizations to be a catalyst for preserving and reusing historic buildings to sustain economic development for historic Northwest Philadelphia and beyond;

Making history useful to help foster a pride of place to help build vibrant communities in Greater Germantown.

Cliveden donors value this historic site’s important role in US history, as well as its positive impact on the Northwest Philadelphia community and the broader region it serves. Your contributions to Cliveden and/or the Revolutionary Germantown Festival help us keep history alive, promote multicultural understanding, and make the lessons of history relevant for new generations.

Your financial support generates critical resources for our full spectrum of school and public educational programs, research, and restoration. New and renewed donations are always welcome!